"Well, East Coast girls are hip..."
But here and now in July, I live on the West Coast with the sunshine
Writing Updates
I am writing a book. I will not be elaborating. If you are new to this newsletter (welcome!), you can read why here.
Writing Updates (the fun stuff)
While We’re Young is no longer such a secret! Its stunning cover has been revealed, the book is officially up for preorder, and I’m beyond excited! Grace, Isa, Everett, and dear James are incredibly special to me, and the book—set in Philadelphia and its suburbs—is the first of my two “love letter” novels to Pennsylvania, where I grew up. One of my favorite cousins lives in Philly, and while drafting the first iteration of this book, I spent a day location-scouting with her. This was back in November 2020, so unfortunately most places were closed because of the pandemic, but we still had a damn good time!
If you haven’t had the chance to check it out yet, below is blurb…
A whirlwind romance inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off about four friends whose hearts are broken and mended over the course of an epic senior skip day—from the bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules!
Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an inseparable trio before their love lives became a tangled mess. For starters, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous “Freshman Year Fracture.” And, oh yeah, no one knows that Isa has been hanging out with James, Grace’s brother—and if Grace finds out, it could ruin their friendship.
With graduation fast approaching, Grace decides an unsanctioned senior skip day in Philadelphia might be just what they need to fix things. All she has to do is convince Isa to help her kidnap Everett and outmaneuver James, who’s certain his sister is up to something.
In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly's finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. But can their hearts withstand the wreckage?
Click the yellow button below if you’re interested in preordering, which is the ultimate compliment to me! If it’s not yet available at your go-to retailer, check back soon…or wait for me to promote this again next month, because I’m totally going to…
Passenger Princess Life
The quote from this post’s title is a lyric from The Beach Boys’ “California Girls.”
Because while I will always identity as an East Coast girl, I am writing to you from a new apartment in a new city on a new coast. On June 20th, C and I set off on a cross-country road-trip from Pennsylvania to California (he had the audacity to accept a job offer out here)! Our ride? A fully packed twenty-foot U-Haul towing a 2002 Lexus hard-top convertible that we have christened “Sophia.”
Rather than recapping our entire weeklong, over-three-thousand-miles journey, here are ten fun facts:
Our route was Pennsylvania —> Indianapolis —> Kansas City —> Denver —> Park City —> Lake Tahoe —> NEW HOME!
I did none of the driving. C deserves the biggest trophy and all the money in the world for his skillful maneuvering at gas stations, in hotel parking lots, etc. and navigating up and down the mountains. Instead, he just got my undying love and support and a big apartment.
For an engagement gift, my grandfather gave us an Exxon/Mobil gift card (right on brand—Ross is both thoughtful and pragmatic). It got us through most of Kansas!
I listened to Gracie Abrams’ new album somewhere in Indiana. I really love “Normal Thing.”
We spent three nights in Chiefs Kingdom with relatives. I signed about ten copies of TSOBR at the Plaza’s B&N, and if you haven’t tried Christopher Elbow chocolates, you’re missing out.
There were drafting difficulties (but it’s fine).
Our friends made us the best whiskey sours when we stayed with them outside Denver. One is a physical therapist, so I had an informal consult. He says I need to strengthen my wrists, and gave me some exercises to do.
My brother recommended this podcast called “Acquired.” Notable episodes we listened to covered Starbucks and Hermès. In order to buy a Birkin Bag, I have to first buy other Big Ticket Items to build a relationship with Hermès, to prove I love and adore and will forever spend a fortune with them…which sounds like a drag…and impossible…but Logan gave Rory a Birkin so I want one too! (Just not in that color).
During the off-season, Vail seems to be all about hiking, tennis, and spa life. But, if you are just passing through, there is nothing better than ice cream at 10 AM.
Our couch fit in the U-Haul, but not in our apartment. That’s a story for another time.
Finally, a PSA from C: if you have never driven a heavy box truck before and find yourself driving downhill on I-70 W (west of Denver), shift into lower gear!
Reader Q&A
What’s the vibe of your next book going to be? Another summery, beachy one or something else?
While We’re Young is a fast-paced, heart-stopping adventure in the city. While it’s not set at the beach, it definitely has the same lighthearted and genuine vibe—filled with humor, heart, and banter—as my other books.
Any information on the new books?
You’ll find out the title of Swiftie 4 this month. I think.
Do you ever plan on/want to write a book that’s set in the past?
Maybe! I’m a huge historical fiction reader, and my grandparents—who turn ninety this summer—gifted me their extensive archive of letters they wrote to each other back in the fifties. They’ve been together since they were fourteen and got married right after college. These letters prove that theirs is love story for the ages, and who knows? They might inspire something someday!
Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad?
So this may surprise you, but I actually don’t watch The Summer I Turned Pretty… and it has been so many years since I read the books that I truthfully can’t remember many details beyond Jeremiah being broody Conrad’s younger brother/Belly’s BFF. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is my Jenny Han jam!
What are some names you’ve considered for characters but have never used?
Sam, Thea, Emmett, Iris.
Are there any movies/shows that might inspire future books like Ferris Bueller did?
Perhaps…
Will Lily and Tag ever make a cameo is a future book?
That’s the master plan, it just has to be the right book; I’m not going to throw them in if they don’t truly fit somewhere. For example, I know many readers wondered why Meredith and Wit weren’t in What Happens After Midnight…but why would they be? WHAM is set at a boarding school…and #HitchMeToWitry has already graduated high school…and are currently crushing it at college…so…you know? I cameoed the Maybe Meant to Be squad in The Summer of Broken Rules because they worked there; I’d established in their book that they spent summers on the Vineyard, so it was a natural tie-in. Long story short, you’ll see these couples again (Mer and Wit are in Swiftie 4). Just maybe not right away. I’m not a huge fan of forcing things!
What kind of non-writer jobs have you had in the past?
I’ve been a serious writer since graduating college, but up until last summer, it was my “side gig.” I did a couple things for a hot second, but for several years, I was a bookseller at Barnes & Noble. It paired wonderfully with my writing. Not only did I have an extremely supportive manager and coworkers (and meet one of my best friends), but being around books all the time bettered me as both a reader and a writer. It was so interesting to learn the retail side of publishing! I loved being behind the scenes and in the know of trends and recommending my favorites. B&N is one happening place, so I have some wild stories, too.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Usually the opposite of what I’m currently doing. Right now I’m drafting, and I wish I was revising. I haven’t drafted a manuscript in a while, so I’ve forgotten how intimidating the blank page can be. When I revise, I at least have words to work with. It doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad. They’re there.
Favorite thing to do during the summer?
Isn’t it obvious? Leo season on the Vineyard!
Reading
I read Catherine Newman’s Sandwich on the road! It was a bite-sized book that made me yearn for the Farm with its Cape Cod setting and family vacation vibes. Now, I’m a few chapters into Ashley Poston’s A Novel Love Story. She is an auto-buy author of mine, so this is a “most anticipated” read of the year for me!
Playlist
Gracie, duh.
Bonus Content
Okay, in honor of the Fourth of July! Most of you know that my books all take place in the same universe, but I’m not sure if anyone has made this connection yet…
“That night…” I echoed, grabbing for the hair tie on my wrist and stretching it out. “At the beach…” It sounded like I had no clue what he was talking about.
But I did, eyes fluttering shut for a second. To see it again, to be there again: Martha’s Vineyard, back in July. The beach, the bonfire, the s’mores and “borrowed” beer. “Come on, let’s play spin the bottle!” someone had shouted.
So I’d spun. I remembered spinning first, the empty Bud Light bottle slowing to a stop halfway between the twins. “Get ready, groom.” I’d flashed Charlie a grin, at the same time one of his friends said, “No, no, Sage, it’s totally leaning toward Nick…”
Totally leaning toward Nick.
I’d felt him smiling at me from across the fire, but even with its heat, I froze. Kiss Nick? Kiss Nick Carmichael? Half of me couldn’t fathom it; we were friends. Just friends. Always just friends.
But then my ice broke, that first crack rippling through me.
Because somehow the other half could imagine it—kissing him.
-Sage, Maybe Meant to Be
AND
Eli steered us out to more or less the middle of Oyster, yards and yards away from shore, avoiding kayakers, paddleboarders, sailboats, and swimmers. The four of us shouted “Hi!” and “Hello!” to everyone, even if we didn’t know them. There was a scattering of houses surrounding the pond, ranging from cute cottages to grand mansions. My favorite one always threw a huge Fourth of July party, and during our last summer together, I’d convinced Claire to crash it with me. “They won’t notice,” I told her. “There are so many people already there!”
Now, I stared at the sprawling cedar-shingled house, at its stretch of private beach, and remembered Claire having her first kiss that night. During a silly game of spin the bottle by the bonfire, with a handsome blue-eyed boy.
-Meredith, The Summer of Broken Rules
SO…
The Bonfire
My stomach swirled like a washing machine wave when it was my turn to spin. Meredith, I thought, glancing in the direction of the dock. Why? It had been her idea to kayak across the Oyster Pond and crash this party. Why did she need to answer Ben’s call and disappear on me? She knew better than anyone—
“Come on, Claire!” someone across the fire encouraged. Sage, the Blake Lively-esque blonde who’d spun first. There were about ten of us on the small beach, sitting in a circle near a blazing bonfire. As if scripted, Sage’s Bud Light bottle had slowed and stopped between the redheaded twins she’d been glued to all night. Everyone had whooped and whistled, and while she’d gone right in to kiss one twin, the group protested that the bottle was angled toward his brother. Knickers, they called him, which I assumed meant Nick.
Despite his hideously patterned Patagonia and ripped Nantucket red shorts, he was somehow simultaneously cute and handsome.
And so obviously in love with Sage.
Or, based on the way he and Sage had been teased after their awkward-turned-all-consuming kiss, maybe it was only obvious to me.
You’re clairvoyant, Meredith said whenever I predicted a hookup or breakup back home. I also knew Sarah would someday marry Michael after she’d told me about their first date. Something about the way she whimsically said, And then he asked me if I wanted to share an appetizer… told me that there would be no more looking for her. My cousin had found her forever.
Where are you, Mer? I squinted into the darkness one more time before realizing that I couldn’t stall any longer. It would be weird.
I swallowed hard and reached for the empty Bud Light; someone had placed it on a sun-bleached Monopoly board so it wouldn’t get stuck in the sand. “Textbook,” a guy commented after I spun the bottle.
“It’s all in the wrist!” I joked weakly, but heard some laughs as I watched the bottle whirl. When it started to slow, the back of my neck burned.
Not only because I wasn’t into kissing strangers, but because I’d never kissed anyone. “You’re picky, Claire,” my best friend Gia once told me, after I’d literally spent an entire day at school avoiding Logan Poindexter. A rumor had spread that he wanted to ask me to JProm. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.”
“No, it’s not,” Meredith had later said, furious. “You’re not picky, Claire. You have standards.”
Agreed, but I was also painfully shy—at least with people my age. “I think you’re going to marry someone older,” Honey liked musing. “You’re wise beyond your years, sweetie…”
But, now at the bonfire, I was moments away from my first kiss. Everyone here, including people who weren’t actively playing, was in an uproar when the bottle finally stopped; there was a chorus of cheers, claps, and incredulous chuckles. I even clocked a few envious stares.
Because fate had directed the bottle toward Charlie, Nick’s twin and the guy I’d been sneaking peeks at the whole night. In the firelight, he looked princely with his red-gold hair and blue eyes. Nick’s handsomeness was devastating; Charlie was dashing.
That wasn’t why he’d piqued my interest, though. From what I’d observed, he was a charismatic flirt having the night of his life—he owned this beach and he knew it. But there were glimpses where he seemed unbelievably lost. I’d watch his eyes flit around but not connect with anyone’s.
It was as if he was looking for someone who wasn’t here.
“Hi,” he said now, dropping down next to me. His smile was electric, but flickering—tired. “I’m Charlie.”
“Hi, I’m Claire,” I smiled back tentatively, then forced my smile to shift into a smirk, telling myself to channel Meredith—my dazzling sister. “Are you ready for the best kiss of your life?”
Charlie raised an amused eyebrow. “Funny. I was about to ask you the same question.”
My heart hammered as he started to lean in.
“I like your glasses,” he whispered, and before I could anxiously adjust my tortoiseshell frames, he put a light hand on my cheek and pressed his lips to mine.
Distantly, I heard Meredith cheering.
Happy holiday weekend, everyone!
Cheers,
Kaethe
Okay, LOVED the Claire excerpt. It's so nostalgic and reminds me of being young and fun! (Not that I'm that old I'm only 25 lol) Also just pre-ordered WWY! So excited.
should i be concerned you’re awake at 5:30 am?